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By Luis Jaime Acosta
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombian security forces will continue their offensive against drug traffickers and illegal armed groups, even as President Gustavo Petro pushes for “total peace” in the Andean country, Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez told Reuters.
Petro, who was sworn in in August as Colombia’s first leftist president, has laid out plans to advance negotiations with guerrilla teams such as the National Liberation Army (ELN) and two splinter factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that reject a 2016 peace. Dealing with the government.
Drug traffickers and criminal gangs involved in cocaine production and trafficking can reap benefits such as reduced criminal sentences for bringing to justice, sharing the main points of trafficking routes, and handing over their fortunes.
“The Armed Forces and the National Police continue with their presence and operations, there have been no measures to the contrary,” Velasquez told Reuters in an interview over the weekend.
Members of illegal armed teams will face legal consequences if they comply with the terms of the government’s “total peace” plan after they register, Velasquez said.
Colombia’s nearly six-decade armed confrontation has claimed at least 450,000 lives. All of the armed teams involved in the confrontation are connected to drug trafficking, according to government and security sources.
“The fact that drug traffickers say they will sign up for the peace procedure does not mean that we prevent taking the obligatory movements to end drug trafficking,” Velásquez said.
If drug traffickers adhere to the peace deal, the Colombian military will occupy their territories to prevent other teams from replacing them, Velasquez said.
“You can’t leave empty spaces, you can’t leave territories to the whims of the profession through new actors,” he said.
The Colombian government is also executing a plan for farmers to voluntarily eliminate coca crops, the main element of cocaine, for new crops, such as investments in infrastructure, education and health.
The United States will continue to be Colombia’s best friend in the fight against drug trafficking, Velasquez said.
(Report by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing through Jackie Botts. Editing by Gerry Doyle)